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EspañolFILMS CONSIDERED THE WORST EVER
''Plan 9 from Outer Space'', considered "so bad it's good" by some, is a contender for Worst Movie Ever Made.
The films listed here have achieved a significant level of infamy through critical and popular assertion as being among the 'worst films ever made'. The films have either been cited by a combination of reputable sources as the worst movie of the year, or been on such a source's list of worst movies. Examples of such sources include the Golden Raspberry Awards ("Razzies"), Roger Ebert's list of most hated films, and the Internet Movie Database's "Bottom 100" list.
Original films
B-movies
While B-movies aren't generally presented or accepted as fine cinema in the first place, some of the films from this genre have become known for being markedly worse than others. Some of these are the result of filmmakers who couldn't perceive their own incompetence (examples of which include Ed Wood and Coleman Francis), or whose creative vision outstrips their technical or financial resources, such as Roger Corman. Other examples include many films featured on the television spoof show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. In its 10-year run on television, this show brought many extremely obscure, poorly made films into the public consciousness.
However, some B-movies have become cult classics, partly as a result of their peculiarities. Fans of low-budget cult films often use the phrase "so bad it's good" to describe movies that are so poorly made that they actually become an entertaining "comedy of errors." Unlike more mundane bad films, these films actually develop an ardent fan following who love them because of their poor quality, because normally, the bevy of errors (technical or artistic) or wildly contrived plots are unlikely to be seen elsewhere.
;''Glen or Glenda'' (1953): A semi-autobiographical quasi-documentary about transvestism, starring and directed by Ed Wood. After a nightmarish dream sequence, Glen undergoes psychotherapy to help cure his affliction. Bela Lugosi appears in this film, as he did in several other Wood films during the twilight of his career. Many of Wood's fans and critic Leonard Maltin insist that this was far worse than ''Plan 9 from Outer Space''; Maltin considers it the worst movie ever made. In his book ''Cult Movies 3'', Danny Peary suggests that this is actually a radical, if ineptly made, film that presents a far more personal story than is contained in films by more well-respected auteurs. This film was included in the 2004 DVD documentary ''The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made''.
;''Robot Monster'' (1953): An Ed Wood-style science fiction film, originally shot and exhibited in 3D, featuring an actor dressed in a gorilla suit and what looks almost like a diving helmet. The film is listed in Michael Sauter's book ''The Worst Movies of All Time'' among "The Baddest of the B's". It is also featured in ''The Book of Lists'' 10 worst movie list, in ''The Fifty Worst Films of All Time'', and in the 2004 DVD documentary ''The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made''. It was featured on ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''[1] and was a childhood favorite of author Stephen King.[2]
;''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' (1959): ''Plan 9'' was labeled the "Worst Film Ever" by the Golden Turkey Awards. This movie marked the final appearance of Bela Lugosi. Wood idolized Lugosi, and before Lugosi's death, he shot several minutes of Lugosi . This was then placed in the movie (and repeated several times). Following Lugosi's death, the character was then played by Tom Mason, the chiropractor of Wood's wife at the time, who played his scenes holding the character's cape in front of his face. Wood was apparently undeterred by the numerous physical differences — such as height and build — that distinguished Mason from Lugosi; i.e., that Mason was nearly bald while Lugosi retained a full head of hair until his death. (Years later, one video distributor made light of this, adding the blurb "Almost Starring Bela Lugosi" on the tape box.) Due to difficulty in finding a willing distributor, the film was not released until 1959. The film has played regularly at the New Orleans Worst Film Festival. This film was included in the 2004 DVD documentary ''The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made''. ''Plan 9'' was also mocked on the television series ''Seinfeld,'' by Jerry in the episode "The Chinese Restaurant," where he said,
:In 1994, Tim Burton directed ''Ed Wood'' which was loosely based on the trials and tribulations of making ''Plan 9''. In the television series ''The X-Files'', Fox Mulder watches ''Plan 9'' whenever he needs to focus on a difficult problem, claiming that the film is so incredibly bad that it shuts down the logic centers of his brain, allowing him to make intuitive leaps of logic. In the 1996 edition of ''Cult Flicks and Trash Pics'', the authors state that
;''The Beast of Yucca Flats'' (1961): An incoherent film by Coleman Francis shot silently with added narration. It features a seminude prologue completely unrelated to the rest of the film, and a scientist turning into a monster played by Tor Johnson. ''Leonard Maltin's TV and Movie Guide'' calls it "one of the worst films ever made".[3] Bill Warren said "It may very well be the worst non-porno science fiction movie ever made."[4] Numerous amateur reviews of ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' have cited this film as an example of something worse. Also featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
;''Monster A Go-Go'' (1965): A Herschell Gordon Lewis-directed film, ''Monster'' was begun as ''Terror at Halfday'' by Bill Rebane, who would later go on to make ''The Giant Spider Invasion'' (another infamous bomb); the film was left incomplete, only to be purchased by Lewis, who reportedly needed a second film to release on a double bill, and who shot some additional footage. The picture consists mostly of men sitting around drinking coffee and talking; the ending consists of a long speech by the narrator informing us that "there was no monster." All Movie Guide calls the film a "surreal anti-masterpiece".[5] At one time it held the #1 spot on the IMDb Bottom 100. Also featured on ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''.[6]
;''Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' (1964): When Martian children get to see Santa Claus only on TV, their parents decide to abduct Santa to make them happy. Like many others in this category, it has been featured in ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''[7] and is also included in the IMDb's worst 100. Also cited on a 10-worst list in ''The Book of Lists'', in ''The Fifty Worst Films of All Time'', and in the 2004 DVD documentary ''The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made''. It features an early screen appearance by Pia Zadora. The Canadian TV channel airs this film every Christmas as a "salute" to bad sci-fi. KPTS in Wichita, Kansas aired this on Christmas Eve 2005 as family-friendly entertainment. The movie's theme song, "Hurray for Santy Claus," has been described as an "off-tune, hideously infectious jingle."[8]
;''"Manos" The Hands of Fate'' (1966): A low-budget horror film made by El Paso fertilizer salesman Hal Warren. The film gained cult popularity by being featured on ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''.[9] It has held the #1 movie on the IMDb Bottom 100 repeatedly. Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino owns a rare 35 mm copy of the film, and has stated that it is his favorite "comedy". It also has a 9% rating at Rotten Tomatoes,[10] and the one positive review linked on Rotten Tomatoes is for its ''Mystery Science Theater'' appearance rather than the film itself (which the reviewer, Mike Bracken, calls "unwatchable").[11]
Star vehicles
Some films listed here starred A-list actors whom critics felt were either badly miscast, paired or grouped with other stars with whom they did not share viable chemistry, or cast in an otherwise poorly made film that relied entirely on their star power.
;''The Conqueror'' (1956): A Howard Hughes-funded box-office disaster featuring John Wayne as Genghis Khan and the redheaded Susan Hayward as a Tatar princess. The movie was filmed in Utah downwind from an atomic testing range in Nevada and is often blamed for the cancer deaths of many of the cast and crew, including Hayward, Wayne, Agnes Moorehead,[12] Mexican actor Pedro Armendariz and director Dick Powell (although according to an A&E Network ''Biography'' episode, Wayne also typically smoked five packs of cigarettes a day). The film appears in Michael Sauter's book ''The Worst Movies of All Time'' and made the 10-worst list in ''The Book of Lists''. Hughes thought the movie was so bad that he bought up every copy (which cost him about $12 million), and he refused to distribute the film until 1974, when Paramount reached a deal with him. This would be the last film that Hughes would produce.
;''Sextette'' (1978): An adaptation of Mae West's Broadway musical of the same name is widely considered one of the most embarrassing sex comedies ever made, which ''Variety'' dubbed "a cruel, unnecessary and mostly unfunny musical comedy",[13] as an overweight 83-year old (at the time of filming) West maintained her sex kitten role while uttering quips such as "I'm the girl who works for Paramount all day, and Fox all night", and who croaked a duet with new sixth husband Sir Michael Barrington (a 34-year old Timothy Dalton), a disco rendition of "Love Will Keep Us Together". The film also featured cameos by Ringo Starr, Tony Curtis, a makeup-less Alice Cooper singing Van McCoy's ''Next, Next'' while dressed like Elton John, and Dom Deluise warbling the Beatles' "Honey Pie."
;''Inchon'' (1982): Although the movie had a cast of prominent stars, including Laurence Olivier (during the twilight of his film career, in which he had taken many critically panned roles due to his failing health, meaning he could no longer act on stage, and so only films were left), this war epic "won" four Razzies: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Olivier), Worst Director (Terence Young), and Worst Screenplay. It was named Worst Movie of the Year by ''Esquire''. This movie was also criticized for being financed and produced by the Unification Church, and Sun Myung Moon was a "Special Advisor" to the film. It has never been released on video or DVD.
;''The Lonely Lady'' (1983): This film, based on the book by Harold Robbins and starring Pia Zadora, is criticized for bad acting, a cliched storyline and bad writing-the award ceremony at the beginning and end of the movie is literally called 'The Awards'. It won 6 razzies for worst actress, worst director, worst musical score, worst original song, worst picture, and worst screenplay. It was also nominated for worst actor, worst original song, worst supporting actor, worst supporting actress, and in 1990 it was nominated for worst picture of the decade and in 2005 nominated for worst drama of our first 25 years. It has never been released on DVD.
;'' (1998): Starring the Oscar-nominated actor Ryan O'Neal, this film was widely panned by critics upon its release. It won five Razzies, including Worst Picture. With an estimated budget of $10 million, ''Burn Hollywood Burn'' only grossed approximately $45,000, making it a tremendous box office failure. Roger Ebert gave the film a rare zero out of four stars, calling it a "spectacularly bad film — incompetent, unfunny, ill-conceived, badly executed, lamely written, and acted by people who look trapped in the headlights."[14] It is also on his "most hated" list.[15] In the documentary ''Directed by Alan Smithee'', Director Arthur Hiller stated he had his credit replaced with Alan Smithee not for publicity, but because the film was re-edited in an MTV-style without his involvement.
;''Battlefield Earth'' (2000):
''Battlefield Earth'' was a box office bomb, earning back only $27.9 million of its $73 million budget and bankrupting Franchise Pictures.
;'' (2002): This action movie, starring Lucy Liu and Antonio Banderas, was universally panned by critics, earning a rare zero percent rating (with 103 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes.[23] Rotten Tomatoes editors also ranked the film as the worst-reviewed film listed on the website.[24] Critics variously described the film as "A picture for idiots," "Boring to an amazing degree," "A fine achievement in stupidity and dullness," "Dreadful," "Gives new meaning to the word ''incoherent''," and "the film is bad on just about every level." One critic even called it "''Simplistic: Bullets Vs. Humans''."[25]
;''Swept Away'' (2002): After director Guy Ritchie won critical acclaim for back-to-back British gangster flicks ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' and ''Snatch'', he went on to cast his wife, Madonna, as the female lead in a remake of 1974's ''Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August''. It has a six percent rating at[26] Rotten Tomatoes, an 18 out of 100 on Metacritic.com,[27] and won five Razzies: Worst Movie, Worst Director, Worst Actress (tied with Britney Spears in ''Crossroads''), Worst Screen Couple (Madonna along with Adriano Giannini) and Worst Remake or Sequel.[28] It also went direct-to-video in the UK (Ritchie's home country and Madonna's adopted home.)[29]
;''Gigli'' (2003): A movie featuring Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck that was declared by many to be the worst movie of 2003. Originally a black comedy with no romantic subplot, the producers demanded script rewrites throughout filming, hoping to cash in on the Lopez-Affleck romance that was big news in celebrity-watching publications of the time such as ''Us'' and ''People''. This film only grossed $6 million, making it one of the biggest box office bombs of all time. Many especially avoided it because they thought it was just a vehicle for the Lopez-Affleck relationship. Some reviewers dubbed the film "The ultimate turkey of all time" — perhaps aptly, considering one notorious scene in the film involved Lopez's character's sex talk to Affleck's character as she invited him to perform oral sex on her: "It's turkey time." "What?" "Gobble, gobble." Winner of seven Razzies (including 2005's Worst "Comedy" of Our First 25 Years).
;''Redline'' (2007): An action film about racing exotic cars. It has a zero percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes, [30] and has a 3 out of 10 star rating at the IMDb. [31] This movie stars Eddie Griffin, Nadia Bjorlin, and Nathan Phillips and became best known for Griffin's behind-the-scenes incident, when he crashed a rare Enzo Ferrari worth over $1 million for the movie's promotion.
Bad crossover
Sometimes stars in other fields, such as music, will attempt to parlay their existing fame into a movie career. If this works well enough the star can have a dual career in both fields, or move on exclusively to a film career. Other times, this turns out to have been a mistake and they often stop after the first try.
;''Glitter'' (2001): A semi-autobiographical movie about Mariah Carey in which she plays Billie Frank, a very thinly-veiled Carey-like performer. Critics universally panned it for seeming to be a vanity film intended only to enhance Carey's singing career. Carey had pushed for the project as early as 1997, but its release just ten days after the September 11, 2001 attacks, coupled with the poor reception of Carey's next album (her first since signing a $100 million recording contract), not only damaged Carey's career, but may have been a factor that drove her to a physical breakdown.[32] Website Retrocrush commented, "Only Mariah Carey could play herself in a movie and fuck it up."[33] Metacritic.com gave it a 14 out of 100,[34] Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 7% rating[35] and it earned five nominations[36] and one "win" for Carey as Worst Actress[37] at the 2001 Golden Raspberry Awards. Jimmy Fallon reported on SNL's Weekend Update that Osama Bin Laden was hiding in a theater showing ''Glitter,'' knowing no one would find him.
The hastily-made movie ''From Justin to Kelly'' spent only two weeks in the cinemas.
;''From Justin to Kelly'' (2003): ''American Idol'' finalists Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini star in this movie musical. It stayed in theaters for only two weeks before being released to stores on DVD six weeks later. The film was rushed into production to capitalize on the popularity of the TV series ''American Idol''. When asked about why she did the film, Clarkson told ''Time Magazine'', "Two words: Contractually obligated!" On Metacritic.com, it has a score of 14/100 points;[38] Rotten Tomatoes lists only 5 positive reviews out of 57 in total.[39] As of July 2007, it is in the number nine position in the IMDb bottom 100 with a score of 1.8 out of 10. The film was awarded a special Razzie (for Worst "Musical" of Our First 25 Years) in 2005; however, it was nominated for four Teen Choice Awards. Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' wrote,
Poor comedy
Some comedic films fail because they are simply not funny. Sometimes they fail due to poor writing or acting, or because they just "try too hard." Other times they fail because of an attempt by a comedic actor to try something different or a non-comedic actor to attempt comedy. Finally, some "comedy" films cross into bad taste in their attempt.
;''Leonard Part 6'' (1987): Writer and star Bill Cosby appeared on various talk shows denouncing the movie and warning people against wasting their time or money on it. Scott Weinberg at DVD Talk said, "Movies this bad should be handled with Teflon gloves and a pair of tongs."[40] It won three Razzies for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Screenplay. Cosby accepted the awards in person, on the condition that they be made from 24-karat (99.999%) gold and Italian marble.[41] This film was also one of Cosby's last forays into feature films before his semi-retirement from the silver screen. He followed the film up with ''Ghost Dad''.
;''Underground Comedy Movie'' (1999): A comedy based on a cable access show from 1988. Director/main actor Vince Offer constructed this film out of a series of tasteless, lowbrow skits (including Gena Lee Nolin loudly using the restroom and a superhero named "Dickman", who dresses in a giant penis costume and defeats his enemies by squirting them with semen). Consistently rated in IMDb's bottom 100 movies. Only rated 2.9 out of 10 on IMDb.[42]
;''Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!'' (1992): A comedy starring Sylvester Stallone along with ''Golden Girls'' star Estelle Getty, about a cop whose elderly mother meddles in his life, to the point of going on raids and chases with him. The film won three Razzies: one each for Stallone and Getty, as well as for Worst Screenplay. It also has a 6% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[43] In a 2006 interview with Ain't It Cool News, Stallone himself referred to it as "maybe one of the worst films in the entire solar system, including alien productions we’ve never seen", that "a flatworm could write a better script", and "in some countries – China, I believe – running [the movie] once a week on government television has lowered the birth rate to zero. If they ran it twice a week, I believe in twenty years China would be extinct."[44]
''Freddy Got Fingered''.
;''Freddy Got Fingered'' (2001): Of this Tom Green comedy vehicle, which he gave zero out of four stars, Roger Ebert wrote:
:Tom Green was awarded five Razzies, including Worst Picture, for this film; he accepted the awards in person, arriving with his own red carpet to walk on and used his acceptance speech to mock and heap scorn on the audience, as well as the film. "I want to say I didn't deserve this... dear god, I want to say that." He was then forcefully removed from the stage after refusing to stop playing the harmonica. [45]
;''The Adventures of Pluto Nash'' (2002): The script for this Eddie Murphy film went through numerous revisions, and sat unreleased for two years after filming was completed, until its release in August 2002. The movie cost $110 million to make and market, but earned just $7.1 million worldwide. A majority of critics lambasted the awful acting, terrible dialogue, and lack of humor. It was nominated for five Razzies: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Murphy, who was also nominated for ''I Spy'' and ''Showtime''), Worst Screenplay, Worst Screen Couple (Eddie Murphy with Either Owen Wilson in ''I Spy'', Robert De Niro in ''Showtime'' or Himself cloned in ''Pluto Nash'') and Worst Director (Ron Underwood). Murphy did not promote the film upon its release. ''Pluto Nash'' has a 6% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[46]
;''The Master of Disguise'' (2002): Starring Dana Carvey, James Brolin, and Harold Gould, it received moderate commercial success when in 2002, earning around $40 million at the box office. The film was, however, panned by critics. The plot was considered sophomoric even for a purported children's movie, compounding the fact that there were several "disguises" that would clearly not be recognized by youngsters (Tony Montana from ''Scarface'', for example). In addition, there were many indications that the film was rushed; for example, there are scenes hinted at in the trailers that do not appear in the actual movie. Also, the cinematography and special effects are considered quite poor for a movie released in 2002, especially when the camera very obviously turns away from a Disguisey as he is coming out of/going into a disguise. It has (as of July 31, 2007) the 9th lowest rating on Rotten Tomatoes, 2.2/10, was on the IMDb bottom 100 following its release. It was also named one of the worst comedies ever by former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' host Michael J. Nelson. Empire magazine went as far as calling it the worst film ever made, and claiming it was "a film about idiots, made by idiots, for idiots."
;''Dirty Love'' (2005): Written by and starring Jenny McCarthy, it "won" four Razzie awards, for Worst Picture, Worst Director (John Asher), Worst Screenplay and Worst Actress (McCarthy).[47] It also has a score of 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.[48] Roger Ebert said in his review, "On the basis of ''Dirty Love'', I am not certain that anyone involved has ever seen a movie, or knows what one is," and on star Jenny McCarthy, he wrote, "I feel sorry for her."[49]
;''King's Ransom'' (2005): A Jeff Byrd directed kidnapping farce concerning greed that starred Anthony Anderson. It is one of the few films to receive a 0% at Rotten Tomatoes[50] and it ranked 23rd worst at metacritic's list of worst films.[51] One review joked that being gagged and tortured would be more amusing.
;''Zoom'' (2006): Former superhero Jack (Tim Allen) is called back to work to transform an unlikely group of ragtag kids into superheroes at a private academy. The film's release was held up by a lawsuit filed by Fox and Marvel Comics, who claimed it plagiarized the ''X-Men'' films (it was originally scheduled to be released two weeks before ''). It also has a plot that is very similar to ''Sky High'', released less than a year before.[52] The film also holds a 2% critic ranking at Rotten Tomatoes.[53]
;''Who's Your Caddy?'' (2007): The film opened to extremely negative reviews. In particular, many critics have deemed it a "terrible rip-off" of ''Caddyshack''.[54][55][56][57] It currently holds the number two spot on IMDb's "Bottom 100", and holds an extremely low 8% on Rotten Tomatoes, though it should be noted that the rating for the movie was already low on IMDb the night before the film was released in theaters.
Exploitation
Filmmakers sometimes try to overuse content considered taboo or shocking by the general populace as a means to draw in curious film-goers (see shock value). When executed poorly, this method can backfire. These films are commonly cult classics, however, as the overdone scenes of nudity, death, violence and gore are often so poorly executed that they become more humorous than shocking. Such films include:
;''Myra Breckinridge'' (1970): The 1970 film based on the book of the same name by Gore Vidal and starring Raquel Welch, Mae West, and Farrah Fawcett rose controversy due to scenes that seemed a bit questionable for the time period. It also started with an X but then had to be cut down to an R. Some stars from the 1940s and 1950s were also shocked to upset to see footage from their films seen as sexual in-jokes, even some, like Loretta Young, suing them to remove the footage. There were also conflicts between Raquel Welch and Mae West on the set. Critics have panned the film, with Time Magazine saying ''"Myra Breckinridge is about as funny as a child molester. It is an insult to intelligence, an affront to sensibility and an abomination to the eye."'' Gore Vidal, the author of the book, has also blamed it for having the book stop selling for a decade.
;''Showgirls'' (1995): A large amount of hype was put behind promoting the sex and nudity in this NC-17 film, but the results were critically derided.[58] Most of the hype revolved around the film's star, Elizabeth Berkley, who only two years before had been one of the stars of the teenage sitcom ''Saved by the Bell'' (in which she played a young feminist, which is ironic considering the objectification of her character in this film). The film won seven of the thirteen Razzie Awards for which it was nominated. It possibly ruined the career of Elizabeth Berkley, and the writer, Joe Eszterhas, has had difficulty living down the embarrassment as well. The film, however, has garnered a cult following over the years. The edited R-rated version removes much of the gratuitous nudity and replaces it with story elements that make the plot understandable. In a bold move, Superstation TBS broadcast the film on television in their prime time schedule, but added digitally animated solid black underwear to hide breasts and genitalia.
Sequels, prequels, and remakes
Often, an attempt is made to capitalize on the popularity of a successful film by making a sequel (or prequel), writing a new script loosely based on the ideas of the old one, or if the film is old enough, remaking the movie altogether[59]. These films often do not live up to their predecessor. Some factors resulting in poor performance are:
★ different continuity which makes a film a sequel in name only,
★ budgetary constraints,
★ the film may not feature the stars associated with the original,
★ the film may not be made by the same filmmakers,
★ the target audience's lack of interest in furthering the story of the predecessor,
★ declining actors attempting to reprise roles from the height of their career for which they are no longer suited, and
★ a perceived attempt to capitalize on a popular concept with little or no original material.
While they are usually considered inferior to the original, others end up being poorly done movies in and of themselves and sometimes taint the film they were meant to emulate or continue.
Family films
;''Mac and Me'' (1988): The film is about a young, wheelchair bound boy who meets and befriends an alien who has crash landed on earth. The script is largely stolen from ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', and served as little more than a vehicle to promote Coca-Cola and McDonald's. One scene in the film is a large, impromptu dance-off with the main character, MAC the alien (dressed in a teddy bear costume), a football team, Ronald McDonald, and various other people inside and outside of a McDonald's restaurant. The film's cast list states "and Ronald McDonald as Himself." ''Mac and Me'' has a fresh rating of 0 on Rotten Tomatoes.[60]
;'' (1998): The fourth ''3 Ninjas'' movie — and universally considered the worst of the series — starred none of the original actors, excluding a near-cameo role by Victor Wong, and was directed by tween-friendly director Sean McNamara. The film also starred Hulk Hogan and Loni Anderson. The movie has zero positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes,[61] is the 22nd worst movie (with a score of 2.0 out of 10) as rated by the users of IMDb[62] as of July, 2007, and grossed only $375,805 domestically.
;'' (2004): Although the original movie was not well received, this sequel inspired many critics to add it to their list of the worst movies ever. It was '#1' on the ''IMDb bottom 100'' for a few months (as of July, 2007, it has moved to #9), and had a 0% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[63] The third movie, ''Baby Geniuses 3'', is currently in production.[64]
;''Son of the Mask'' (2005): This sequel to the Jim Carrey movie ''The Mask'', without Jim Carrey, is #27 on the IMDb Bottom 100 list as of July, 2007, and had a 4% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[65] The movie was so bad, even star Jamie Kennedy said that he regretted doing it.
;''Daddy Day Camp'' (2007): This sequel to the Eddie Murphy movie ''Daddy Day Care'' had Cuba Gooding, Jr. recast in Murphy's role. So far, ''Daddy Day Camp'' holds 2% on Rotten Tomatoes with 25% user reviews and 18 on Metacritic with 18 reviews. The film received a rare "F" from The A.V. Club.[66] It holds 1.5/10 on IMDb, and holds the #3 place on the Bottom 100 of IMDb. On its first day of release, the film came in 9th place with box office gross of $773,706.
Action movies
;'' (1987): The fourth and final film in the Jaws series ignores the events of the preceding and more successful ''Jaws 3-D'', and uses a plot involving a shark seemingly plotting to kill the surviving members of the Brody family. At the end, the shark is heard to "roar" repeatedly (which is physically impossible) before being hit with a sailboat driven by Sheriff Brody's wife and exploding. It was nominated for the Worst Picture award in the 1987 Golden Raspberry Awards, and won an award for "Worst Special Effects." It has a 0% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[67]
;'' (1997): Sequel to ''Speed'', starring Sandra Bullock (reprising her role from the previous movie), Jason Patric, and Willem Dafoe and notably ''not'' starring Keanu Reeves of the original film. ''Speed 2'' was both a critical and box office flop. It received a "BOMB" rating from Leonard Maltin; in his ''Movie and Video Guide'', Maltin comments "Did anyone read the script before signing on for this one?" It has been claimed that the best career move Reeves ever made was to reject this sequel. The film was nominated for eight Razzies and won for Worst Remake or Sequel. It has a 23 out of 100 rating on Metacritic.com[68]
Comedy sequels
;''Caddyshack II'' (1988): The sequel to the critically acclaimed 1980s comedy ''Caddyshack'' took home two Razzies for Worst Original Song and Worst Supporting Actor (Dan Aykroyd) and was nominated for two others including Worst Picture. It holds a 0% from 8 critics at Rotten Tomatoes[69] and a rating of 3.4 out of 10 on IMDb, as of July, 2007.[70] The film was also listed on ESPN Page2's "Worst Sports Movies Ever" at number 4,[71] in contrast to the original ''Caddyshack'' being listed at number 8 on the "Top 20 [Best] Sports Movies of All-Time".[72] ''Caddyshack II'' continues to appear on numerous ''worst movies ever'' and ''worst sequels'' lists including a number 2 spot on the ''Entertainment Weekly'' list of Worst Sequels Ever.[73][74]
;'' (2005): A follow up to the 1999 sleeper '', Rob Schneider reprises his role as the inept gigolo who travels to Amsterdam to see his friend, T.J. The critically reviled film just broke even on its $22 million budget at the U.S. box office before bombing overseas. The film became the subject of a heated debate between star Schneider and movie critic Patrick Goldstein, who wrote an article about studios producing terrible movies, citing this film as one of its examples. In January 2005, Goldstein of the ''Los Angeles Times'' said in an article that '' was overlooked for an Academy Award because "nobody had the foresight to invent a category for Best Running Penis Joke Delivered by a Third-Rate Comic."
:Schneider responded two weeks later with full-page ads in ''Daily Variety'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter'' where he said,
:Film critic Roger Ebert responded to Schneider saying
;''National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj'' (2006): This sequel to the 2002 sleeper hit ''Van Wilder'' has Kal Penn reprising his role as Taj, but does not feature Ryan Reynolds as the main character of the original. The movie flopped at the box office, only earning slightly over $2.3 million in its opening weekend. The movie shot up to #1 on the IMDb worst movies list for a period, but has moved back down and off the list as of July, 2007, and now holds a 3.4/10 rating. It also has a 5% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Superhero/science fiction movies
;''Batman & Robin'' (1997)
:This film was neither a critical nor a financial success.[75][76] It was mocked for the script, and over-extending the campy attitude (expressed in smirky one-liners, blatantly ludicrous stunts, and loud sound effects) of its predecessor, ''Batman Forever''.[77][78]
:Author Mark S. Reinhart said, "The combination of ''Batman & Robin's terrible script, ridiculous costuming, garish sets, uninspired direction, etc. made the film into the appalling dump heap that it is.[79]" Mike Nelson writes in ''Movie Megacheese'': "It's the worst thing ever. Yes, it's the single worst thing that we as human beings have ever produced in recorded history."
;'' (1989): This is considered to be the weakest entry in the ''Star Trek'' film franchise. The creator of the franchise, Gene Roddenberry, considered it to be "apocryphal at best", regarding elements of the film as non-canon.[80] because it contained plot points that contradicted the established fictional ''Star Trek'' history. Directed by William Shatner, some critics saw it as an ego vehicle for Shatner.[81] This movie won the 1989 Razzie Award for Worst Picture, beating ''The Karate Kid Part III'' and ''Road House''.
;'' (1987): Regarded as the film that killed the franchise by many critics, as well as by the original producer of the first three films, Ilya Salkind. After the disappointment that was ''Superman III'', even though it was financially successful, it left a bad taste in audiences' mouths (due to the shamelessly campy/comedic tone left by director Richard Lester and the presence of comedian Richard Pryor). The series was sold to the Cannon Group, who were managed by Israeli producer Menahem Golan and his cousin Yoram Globus, and were known to make poor quality pictures. The film was universally panned by critics and fans alike, who were disgusted by the film's plot and special effects, which paled in comparison to the earlier films, and performed poorly at the box office. The budget was drastically cut from an estimated $40 million to $17 million and many of the top SFX team left over pay disputes. The film was also cut from 140 minutes to a mere 89, even though it was said that all the visual effects were completed. The majority of the film was shot in England, and little effort was made to hide this fact. It would be nearly 20 years until a new Superman film would be made - a film which disregarded ''Superman III'' and ''IV'' entirely.
Poorly executed adaptation
Many directors successfully adapt a book, play or story from another medium into a film. While a perfect conversion is never possible, some attempts take far too many liberties with the original story, frequently with disastrous results to the final film and the director's reputation.
;''Howard the Duck'' (1986): "Howard the Duck" was one of the biggest box office bombs in cinematic history, losing $21 million[82]. Loosely based on the Marvel Comics character created by Steve Gerber and starring Lea Thompson, Tim Robbins, and Jeffrey Jones, the film retains only two central characters and goes to no effort to make them look or behave similarly to their comics counterparts. Executive producer George Lucas disowned it shortly after its release. In his ''Movie Guide'', Leonard Maltin calls the film a "hopeless mess of a movie." The film was also among Siskel and Ebert's picks for the "Worst Films of 1986." The film was adapted by Willard Huyck and his wife Gloria Katz and directed by Huyck, with no input from Gerber, who supported the film only until it did not succeed. Huyck and Katz were once considered "luminaries",[83] but have not made a film since.
;'' (1997): The movie was much less well-received than its predecessor.[84] Though it still possessed the visual spirit of the first movie, it greatly lacked the level of authenticity in both special effects and fight choreography. Additionally, ''Annihilation'' suffered from an overly large and homogenous cast, employed to depict as many ''Mortal Kombat'' characters as possible, with a subsequent drop in characterization; in fact, several characters (e.g. Noob Saibot) make only unidentified cameo appearances. The cast was almost entirely different with only Robin Shou (Liu Kang) and Talisa Soto (Kitana) returning to reprise their roles from the first film. The only other actor to return was Keith Cooke, the actor who portrayed Reptile in the first film. He was recast as the new Sub-Zero. The part of Mileena was performed by Soto's stunt-double, Dana Hee. The budget for ''Annihilation'' was $40 million, but the movie grossed only $36 million in the U.S., with an opening weekend take of $16 million.[85] This represented a drop of 50% of the original movie's total domestic gross ($70 million). Worldwide, the film only grossed $51 million, versus the first film's worldwide take of $122 million.
''Catwoman'' was one of the most critically panned movies of 2004.
;''Catwoman'' (2004): Ostensibly based on the DC Comics character and starring Halle Berry, the film resembles next to nothing of its source material. In the movie, Catwoman has super powers, which she lacks in the comics. Her lycra catsuit was replaced with slashed leather pants, a bra, and a mask-cap, and she leaps from rooftop to rooftop in stiletto heels (her suit mysteriously gets skimpier as the movie progresses). As the movie character differs so widely from her comic source, the character has been cited as "Catwoman In Name Only".[86] One of the choice fighting scenes makes use of a face beauty cream that when applied gives the wearer invincibility. It has a 9% rating at Rotten Tomatoes,[87] and was declared "arguably the worst superhero film ever made" by the ''Orlando Sentinel''. ''The Florida Times-Union'' (Jacksonville) put it more bluntly:
:Winner of four Razzies for Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Director (Pitof), and Worst Screenplay. In a move clearly designed to salvage at least some of her reputation, Berry accepted her Razzie in person (with her Best Actress Oscar in hand), and in her acceptance speech she attempted to distance herself from having said yes to taking the role, somewhat disingenuously saying,
;''Alone in the Dark'' (2005): When this Uwe Boll directed movie — loosely based on a series of video games by Infogrames/Atari — was released in January 2005, critics panned it for a variety of reasons, including poor script and production values, overuse of slow-motion and quick cuts to optimize the gory content, almost no connection to the game, and bad acting. On the commentary of the DVD, Boll remarks that several of the scenes weren't depicted quite as he'd imagined them. This is something of an understatement, one review said the movie was "so poorly built, so horribly acted and so sloppily stitched together that it's not even at the straight-to-DVD level." This movie received 1% at Rotten Tomatoes[88] and is regularly on the IMDb Bottom 100.[89] Critic Rob Vaux states that this movie is so bad that "the other practitioners of cinematic drivel can rest a little easier now; they can walk in the daylight with their heads held high, a smile on their lips and a song in their hearts. It's okay, they'll tell themselves. I didn't make ''Alone in the Dark''."[90] Screenwriter Blair Erickson wrote about his experience dealing with Boll and his original script, which was closer to the actual game itself, and Boll's script change demands at SomethingAwful.com.
Other
;''Staying Alive'' (1983): Sequel to ''Saturday Night Fever'', directed by Sylvester Stallone and starring John Travolta. Panned by critics despite bringing in $68 million at the box office, the film was ranked the Worst Sequel Ever by ''Entertainment Weekly'' and it has a 0% rating at Rotten Tomatoes[91] The film was nominated for two Razzies, including Worst Actor (Travolta) and Worst New Star (Finola Hughes). The film is also listed on Roger Ebert's Most Hated Films
;''Basic Instinct 2'' (2006): A sequel to the critically acclaimed, phenomenally successful 1992 thriller ''Basic Instinct'' starring Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas. ''Basic Instinct'' did well at the box office, while the sequel flopped, and "won" four Razzie awards, among them Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Sharon Stone), Worst Sequel and Worst Screenplay. It was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actor (David Thewlis) and Worst Screen Couple, those nominees being "Sharon Stone's lopsided breasts." While being panned by critics, it was dubbed as "Basically, It Stinks, Too," a nickname which quickly caught on. It also boasts a 7% rotten rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[92]
Audience polls
The films listed and ranked on audience polls tend to vary from one poll to another. One problem affecting audience polls is "downvoting"; when users with a vendetta against a film (or genre of films) give the lowest possible rating to intentionally lower the film's rank. An example would be a user with a vendetta against "Paris Hilton films" would give the lowest rating to all films she has starred in. Another problem is when users vote on films they have not seen. One possible example of this is the film ''Bratz - Passion 4 Fashion Diamondz'', which is ranked the worst film of all time according to the IMDb poll. It is a film based upon the line of fashion dolls popular with young girls, yet according to the IMDb poll, the largest demographic of users voting on the film were males aged 18-29.[93] Coincidentally, the same demographic also gave the film the lowest possible rating of 1.0. For users of all age demographics, male voters outnumbered female voters at more than a 5 to 1 ratio.
According to the IMDb's polls, as of August 27 2007, the top ten worst rated movies are:
# ''Who's Your Caddy?'' (2007)
# ''Die Hard Dracula'' (1998)
# ''Daddy Day Camp'' (2007)
# ''Surf School'' (2006)
# ''The Tony Blair Witch Project'' (2000)
# ''Dünyayi kurtaran adam'in oglu'' (''Turkish Star Wars 2'') (2006)
# ''Crossover'' (2006)
# ''Transmorphers'' (2007)
# ''Anne B. Real'' (2007)
# ''Pledge This!'' (2003)
According to the poll on everyonesacritic.net, as of August 15 2007, the top ten worst rated movies are:
# ''Battlefield Earth'' (2000)
# ''From Justin to Kelly'' (2003)
# ''House of the Dead'' (2003)
# ''Glitter'' (2001)
# ''Spice World'' (1997)
# ''Alone in the Dark'' (2005)
# ''Catwoman'' (2004)
# '' (1966)
# ''Baby Geniuses'' (1999)
# '' (1997)
Note: These lists change regularly.
===Rotten Tomatoes list of the worst movies of all-time[95] ===
# ''
# ''Alone in the Dark''
# ''Crossover''
# ''Pinocchio''
# ''King's Ransom''
# ''
# ''National Lampoon's Gold Diggers''
# ''Twisted''
# ''The Master of Disguise''
# ''Half Past Dead''
See also
★ Box office bomb
★ Films considered the greatest ever
References
1. Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Robot Monster at TV.com
2. Stephen King, ''Danse Macabre'', 1981
3. 2007 edition, p. 94
4. Monster Shack: Full Movie Walk-throughs
5. ''Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Monster A Go-Go'' at allmovie.com
6. ''Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Monster A Go-Go'' at TV.com
7. ''Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' at TV.com
8. Santa Claus conquers the Martians at 3B Theater
9. ''Manos, The Hands of Fate'' at TV.com
10. ''Manos - the Hands of Fate'' at Rotten Tomatoes
11. ''Manos - the Hands of Fate'' at Toxic Universe
12. Did John Wayne die of cancer caused by a radioactive movie set? at The Straight Dope
13. Sextette at Variety.com reviews
14. An Alan Smithee Film Burn Hollywood Burn
15. Ebert's Most Hated
16. ''Battlefield Earth'' reviews
17. Top 10 Movies that went wrong at 2spare.com
18. ''Battlefield Earth'' at Flipside Movie Emporium
19. ''Battlefield Earth'' FAQ
20. ''Battlefield Earth'' at Rotten Tomatoes
21. It's official - ''Battlefield Earth'' ties with ''Showgirls''
22. 25th Golden Razzie awards
23. ''Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever'' at Rotten Tomatoes
24. Rottoen Tomatoes - The worst of the worst pictures
25. ''Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever'' at The Hollywood Reporter
26. ''Swept Away'' at Rotten Tomatoes
27. ''Swept Away'' at Metacritic
28. Twenty-third annual Golden Razzie awards
29. ''Crossroads'' at the Internet Movie Database
30. ''Redline'' at Rotten Tomatoes
31. ''Redline'' at the Internet Movie Database
32. Mariah Carey - back in the hospital?
33. When Rock Stars Make Movies
34. ''Glitter'' at Metacritic
35. ''Glitter'' at Rotten Tomatoes
36. The 22nd annual Razzies - nominees
37. The 22nd annual Razzies - winners
38. ''From Justin to Kelly'' at Metacritic
39. ''From Justin to Kelly'' at Rotten Tomatoes
40. DVD Talk Review: Leonard Part 6
41. ''Leonard - Part 6'' trivia at the Internet Movie Database
42. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0201290/
43. ''Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot'' at Rotten Tomatoes
44. Stallone Q/A
45. ''Green gets fingered for Razzies'' at BBC News
46. ''Adventures of Pluto Nash'' at Rotten Tomatoes
47. 26th Annual Golden Raspberry (Razzie) nominations
48. ''Dirty Love'' at Rotten Tomatoes
49. Roger Ebert on ''Dirty Love''
50. Rotten Tomatoes - Tomato Picker
51. Lowest-rated films at metacritic.com
52. Fox lowering a ''Zoom'' boom
53. ''Zoom'' at Rotten Tomatoes
54. orlandosentinel.com
55. http://filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=10188
56. rottentomatoes.com
57. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934281.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
58. ''Showgirls'' at Rotten Tomatoes
59. Worst Movie Sequels - Moviefone
60. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mac_and_me/
61. ''3 Ninjas - High Noon at Mega Mountain'' at Rotten Tomatoes
62. ''3 Ninjas - High Noon at Mega Mountain'' at the Internet Movie Database
63. ''Super Baby Geniuses 2'' at Rotten Tomatoes
64. ''Baby Geniuses 3'' preview at crystal-sky
65. ''Son of The Mask'' at Rotten Tomatoes
66. http://www.avclub.com/content/cinema/daddy_day_camp
67. ''Jaws 4 - The Revenge'' at Rotten Tomatoes
68. Although, it should be noted that it received two thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert.''Speed 2 - Cruise Control'' at Metacritic
69. ''Caddyshack 2'' at Rotten Tomatoes
70. ''Caddyshack 2'' at the Internet Movie Database
71. Worst sports movies ever
72. ESPN - Top 20 Sports movies of all time - page 2
73. Worst movie sequels at bullz-eye.com
74. The WORST Movie Sequels EVER! Caddyshack 2?! - forum thread at eBay guides
75. ''Batman & Robin'' at Metacritic
76. ''Batman & Robin'' at Box Office Mojo
77. Read the Script Online
78. Fanzing February 1998 - I see Batman... in a dress!
79. "The Burton/Schumacher Series," Part 2
80. Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future, revised edition, , Michael, Okuda, Pocket Books, 1996,
81. Star Trek V at Jabootu
82. Howard the Duck at Box Office Mojo
83. Les Keyser. ''Martin Scorsese''. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1995. p. 65
84. Rotten Tomatoes
85. Box Office Mojo
86. Imaginative 'Catwoman' purrs with sex appeal, but story itself is declawed
87. ''Catwoman'' at Rotten Tomatoes
88. ''Alone in the Dark'' at Rotten Tomatoes
89. Bottom 100 at the Internet Movie Database
90. ''Alone in the Dark'' at Flipside Movies
91. Staying Alive at Rotton Tomatoes
92. Basic Instinct 2 at Rotton
Tomatoes.com
93. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417503/ratings
94. Bottom 200 at everyonesacritic.net
95. Rotten Tomatoes' worst movies of all-time
External links
★ ''IMDb Bottom 100''
★ ''The Bottom 200'' at everyonesacritic.net
★ ''Rotten Tomatoes''
★ ''Roger Ebert''
★ ''Ebert's Most Hated''
★ ''Golden Raspberry Awards''
★ ''Metacritic: Worst-Reviewed Movies''
★ ''Cinema de Merde: Reviews and essays on bad and cheesy movies''
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psst.. try this: add to faves
